1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to tennis teaching aids and, more particularly, to an improved method for and an improved racket to teach tennis.
2. Description of Related Art
As is well known, the basic strokes used in tennis are the forehand and the backhand. A forehand stroke is one in which the ball is met by the player on the racket-hand side of the body, whereas the more difficult backhand stroke requires a player to extend the racket hand across the player's body while the player's body is turned partly away from the ball. Many attempts have been made to acceptedly teach a player to swing a tennis racket so as to correctly hit the ball using the two above-mentioned basic strokes, as well as other types of strokes.
The preferred swing of a tennis racket requires the racket to be in motion and the wrist of a player to be in a certain position so that the momentum of the head of the tennis racket properly moves a tennis ball. Tennis instructors are always seeking ways to successfully pass on the required skills to other players, whether such players be novices or professionals. In particular, there still exists a need in the art to enable an instructor to teach the proper use of a tennis racket when hitting a tennis ball using various strokes such as a forehand, one- or two-handed backhand, overhead and a serve.
Since it is hard, or practically impossible, to teach the kinesthetic or muscular sense which must be developed to properly use a tennis racket to stroke a ball, as opposed to pushing it, many attempts have been made to provide a tennis racket which will aid in properly developing the various tennis strokes of a player, and which racket enables a tennis instructor to more easily teach a player the proper use of the racket.
A prior art device for teaching the use of a tennis racket to a student is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,679,205, to Finkle et al, which discloses a tennis racket provided with a hinge intermediate the handle and the racket head. The hinge is provided with a bias means which tends to maintain the racket handle and head in a normal linear relation. However, this hinge will break down when the racket is used to push a tennis ball so that the racket head and handle is used as a lever to propel the ball. Furthermore, this patent discloses means for completely locking the hinge, intermediate the handle and head so as to also enable the racket to be used to play tennis.
A further tennis training racket or device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,367,871 to Schiefer, which discloses a tennis racket having an elongated handle and a head with a device connecting the handle and the head to allow free relative pivotal movement between the head and the handle, in either direction.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,143,373 to Meissner discloses a further tennis racket having a head with a face lying in a facial plane and a shaft fixed to and co-planar with the head. The racket also has a handle connected to the head with a flexible device located at least partly within the handle and flexibly coupling the handle and the shaft. The head is relatively displacible in either direction along a direction remaining perpendicular to the facial plane and co-planar with the handle to enable the racket to aid in correcting the swing of a player using the same.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,178,387 and 5,178,388 disclose tennis rackets having a flexible throat region between the handle and the racket head, and a racket head with a separable support frame in which the head and frame are hingedly connected together by joints such that a local rotation of both frames relative to each other is allowed at the points of articulation.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 3,033,575 to Hause, U.S. Pat. No. 4,511,139 to Armstrong, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,585 to Koch et al show practice golf clubs and a baseball bat having hinges to help teach the user of the golf club or baseball bat to better control the swing of the device.
With the ever increasing popularity of tennis in which both the amateur and professional players of all countries join in various contract enterprises and open tournaments, both novice and professional players are continually looking for new methods and/or processes or devices which enable them to enhance their tennis playing activities.
Although the known devices shown in the prior art solve some of the problems with teaching tennis strokes to novices, it has been found that none of the available devices or methods for teaching tennis solve all the known problems, or enable an instructor to properly teach either a novice or a professional how to properly stroke the ball in all positions for all types of shots. In particular, it has been found that it is practically impossible to teach or relate to a person the required delay or "lag" in the snapping of a players wrist, that is necessary to learn the proper rhythm and timing for the ground strokes used in tennis. "Lag" is herein defined as the delay or time a racket head trails the movement of the wrist of a player and then, in a single movement, the player's wrist moves the racket head so that it catches up to and becomes parallel with the wrist. This lag, or moment when the racket head catches up with the wrist of the player should also coincide with the exact moment when the racket hits a tennis ball. Lag, therefore, is considered to be an essential element in providing correct technique including timing and rhythm when stroking a tennis ball so as to provide the necessary power to play tennis, particularly in a competitive environment.